Belknap County Commissioners Authorize Sheriff's Office to Join State Radio MOU for Interoperability

At a Belknap County Board of Commissioners meeting, the board voted to authorize the sheriff to enter a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the state Division of Emergency Services and Communications (DESE) to maintain interoperability between county and state radio systems.

The MOU — described by presenters as a software-driven agreement that keeps the county’s existing radio infrastructure connected to the state “hub-and-spoke” system (referred to as the KCORE) — is for a five-year term, and county staff said it would allow both state and county dispatch centers to use each other’s tower resources during incidents. County officials said the arrangement requires no new antennas or other hardware and involves periodic software upgrades.

County presenters told the commission that the state plans an upgrade in August that would require matching software updates on county equipment; Motorola, the county’s vendor, is expected to coordinate updates so the county will remain compatible with the state system. A county official said that coordination is expected to avoid about $50,000 in costs to the county, because Motorola will honor updating the county equipment in the vendor negotiations.

Speakers also discussed the MOU’s notice and termination terms. The meeting transcript contains inconsistent statements about the exact notice period: speakers referenced 30 days, 60 days and, in one instance, a DESE notice window described as a minimum of 30–38 days. The transcript does not definitively resolve which specific notice period applies.

The board took formal action: a motion to authorize the sheriff to sign the MOU was made, seconded and the motion carried. The meeting record indicates the motion passed with the members present voting in favor.

Why it matters: County officials said the agreement increases interoperability — enabling dispatch to “push a button” to transmit from alternate tower sites, and to share radio resources during multi-jurisdiction incidents — and could improve response capability without an immediate hardware expense.

Officials said the MOU also preserves the county’s option to terminate the connection if needed, subject to the notice provisions referenced during the discussion.

No written copy of the MOU or its exact termination clause was introduced in the public portion of the meeting, and the transcript does not include a full text of the agreement or a final signed document at the time of the vote.